Zen C is a systems programming language that compiles to human-readable GNU C/C11. Prior to version 0.4.2, a command injection vulnerability (CWE-78) in the Zen C compiler allows local attackers to execute arbitrary shell commands by providing a specially crafted output filename via the `-o` command-line argument. The vulnerability existed in the `main` application logic (specifically in `src/main.c`), where the compiler constructed a shell command string to invoke the backend C compiler. This command string was built by concatenating various arguments, including the user-controlled output filename, and was subsequently executed using the `system()` function. Because `system()` invokes a shell to parse and execute the command, shell metacharacters within the output filename were interpreted by the shell, leading to arbitrary command execution. An attacker who can influence the command-line arguments passed to the `zc` compiler (like through a build script or a CI/CD pipeline configuration) can execute arbitrary commands with the privileges of the user running the compiler. The vulnerability has been fixed in version 0.4.2 by removing `system()` calls, implementing `ArgList`, and internal argument handling. Users are advised to update to Zen C version v0.4.2 or later.

Project Subscriptions

Vendors Products
Advisories

No advisories yet.

Fixes

Solution

No solution given by the vendor.


Workaround

No workaround given by the vendor.

History

Fri, 27 Feb 2026 17:30:00 +0000


Fri, 27 Feb 2026 09:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Z-libs
Z-libs zen-c
Vendors & Products Z-libs
Z-libs zen-c

Thu, 26 Feb 2026 22:45:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Zen C is a systems programming language that compiles to human-readable GNU C/C11. Prior to version 0.4.2, a command injection vulnerability (CWE-78) in the Zen C compiler allows local attackers to execute arbitrary shell commands by providing a specially crafted output filename via the `-o` command-line argument. The vulnerability existed in the `main` application logic (specifically in `src/main.c`), where the compiler constructed a shell command string to invoke the backend C compiler. This command string was built by concatenating various arguments, including the user-controlled output filename, and was subsequently executed using the `system()` function. Because `system()` invokes a shell to parse and execute the command, shell metacharacters within the output filename were interpreted by the shell, leading to arbitrary command execution. An attacker who can influence the command-line arguments passed to the `zc` compiler (like through a build script or a CI/CD pipeline configuration) can execute arbitrary commands with the privileges of the user running the compiler. The vulnerability has been fixed in version 0.4.2 by removing `system()` calls, implementing `ArgList`, and internal argument handling. Users are advised to update to Zen C version v0.4.2 or later.
Title Zen-C Vulnerable to Command Injection via Malicious Output Filename
Weaknesses CWE-78
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 6.6, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:L'}


Projects

Sign in to view the affected projects.

cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: GitHub_M

Published:

Updated: 2026-02-27T16:57:44.054Z

Reserved: 2026-02-25T15:28:40.648Z

Link: CVE-2026-28207

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Awaiting Analysis

Published: 2026-02-26T23:16:35.277

Modified: 2026-02-27T17:16:33.220

Link: CVE-2026-28207

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-02-27T09:03:56Z

Weaknesses